12 has won a Golden Remi
at the Houston Worldfest 2004. The festival (which ran simultaneously
with the RiverRun International Festival in North
Carolina) is world famous for discovering such talents as George Lucas and
Steven Spielberg. We would like to thank Kathleen Haney, J Hunter Todd and
the staff at Houston Worldfest Headquarters.

12 has won the Best of Fest Award at the Syracuse International Video
and Film Festival. We ventured to the upstate New York Oasis of Syracuse
last weekend. 12 was screened at the EVERSON MUSEUM OF ART. This place
was beautiful. I felt chills as I walked up and saw that the festival
was projecting animation shorts on the outside wall of the museum(GO!
GO! O Great Guerilla Drive In Spirit!) The theater was amazing and
had excellent acoustics. The showing went flawless. They really did
a great job but I have to tell you that the after show Q&A with
Lawrence Bridges was the best part. This is one of the most intelligent,
articulate and aware audiences I have ever seen. The Syracuse Film
Community is well versed and in depth- nothing gets passed them. The
range of questions and their deep understanding of the material was
stunning and inspirational. This audiences enthusiasm was refreshing.
We would like to thank Owen Shapiro, Christine Fawcett and the entire
staff for a wonderful experience.

12 will be screening at the Filmstock International Film Festival
in London on June 13th- DRIVE IN STYLE. For info- check out www.filmstock.co.uk

Update:
04/24/04River Run
International Film Festival

The gods are alive and they are living in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. I just returned from the River Run International Film
Festival.
This is the sixth year the festival has run and wow!
It embodies the true essence of a budding independent film festival.
What is going on in Winston Salem is not a local film gathering but a
grassroots movement dedicated to the principles and the purity of
filmmaking.

Sponsored by the growing art, music and
spiritual community; River Run has successfully dodged the big
commercial sponsorships that have soiled festivals such as Sundance.

There was energy and a pulse to this
place that I haven't felt in a while. People were excited! The Gods are
definitely pleased with this town. The majority of events held were
throughout downtown in Winston Salem. What is really cool about
downtown is that it is riddled with these beautifully old brick
warehouses and factories that once served home to one of the south's
biggest industries -- Tobacco.
Though RJ Reynolds is still a big part of the landscape in Winston
Salem -- the morning Tai Chi and yoga classes held on the next street
over suggests a more enlightened community.

As far as the service, it was amazing.
From the hotel clerks to the taxi drivers to the restaurant waiters,
service was fantastic! One restaurant worth mentioning is Sweet
Potatoes on Trade Street. It is amazing southern fare served with a
side of sweet potato fries. If you're looking for southern cuisine or a
nice place to have a cocktail -- this is the place for you. It is the
old South -- the south I remember growing up in my native Virginia. I
was treated so nicely and respectfully - LA could take some lessons
from this place.

The reason for my trip to this wonderful
place was that they were gracious enough to accept 12 to the festival.
They decided that they wanted to do there own version of the drive-in
at Midnight on Sunday evening, April 24th. The location was a parking
lot on Trade Street next to Miller's Department Store. This place is
incredible, they have the coolest clothes and hats that I have ever
seen. The day I visited there -- the store was having a sale on extra
large pinstripe suits formerly known as zoot suits -- It was old
school. What a fun place, and reasonably priced.

Miller's had a big parking lot and a
great red-bricked wall on the side of the building. On the opposite
side of the parking lot was this little bar called ECHOS. This place
had a black deck facing the wall so I think for the first time ever
people were able to drink and enjoy the drive-in. Another first was the
fact that they were able to broadcast the soundtrack over speakers in
the lot, allowing people to leave the little inner-sanctum of their
automobiles and enjoy the warm breezy night.

Another first time ever for the Drive-In
was a simulcast by a local radio station. How they pulled this one off
is stunning - they figured out the relay time from the tower to the
parking lot, allowing the film to start on cue!

People laughed, moved around and enjoyed
cocktails. They saw 12 in the original form it was made to be seen in.
The brick wall with all its age and history gave 12 a form and texture
that I have never seen. Almost as if the history of the wall allowed 12
to become part of it's long-standing legacy, it was a site to be seen.

I want to thank the staff of the River
Run International Festival and the citizens of Winston Salem for
putting on such an extraordinary event. It really put a smile on my
face.